La Generación de CRISTAL - CIENCIA SIMPLIFICADA EP#62

[music]

Hello, my name is Carolina. Welcome

to your podcast with science sense,

simplified science, the number

one science podcast in Mexico. Thank you to all of

you who are listening to me through

all audio platforms, and if you are

joining me through YouTube,

thank you so much for being here.

Today we're going to start with a

TikTok. So, let's see what

this girl has to say. Let's listen to her

. Okay, we're going to make a

suspension bridge with chains, without any

netting so the children can step on it and have a

very small space and their feet will fall off

. A gap exposed so that if a

child loses their balance they will fall. We're going to

put up some completely unnecessary shelves that will make

the kids want to climb on them

and risk falling.

[laughs]

We're going to make a seesaw with some

super-powerful springs so that

children who don't have strength in their backs will

hit themselves right in the face here. And

this is very hard, very hard so that they

stick together and the nose breaks. Stones,

stones for them to throw at each

other. We're going to put up a rotating inclined tube

and have the children climb on it and

lose control until they fall onto

the rocks.

We're going to build a slide on the

mountain where the sun shines directly on it,

so directly that the children can

touch it and get burned.

Oh no, I can't.

I see myself [laughs] in this video, I'm really laughing, huh

? No hate for this person. Of course

not. The truth is that the user will be there

. Go to her and follow her. I don't know what kind of

content she makes, but she's named after my mom, I do

n't know what. So, she probably makes

content for moms. Yeah, great

person, I don't know, I guess, but at the moment I

'm recording this video,

this TikTok has 14 million views and

at least 1.3 million likes. And

that tells us that the feeling

this girl has is a

fairly common one. I mean, people

actually go to where the

kids are playing and say, "Why are there knives?

[laughs]

Why are they giving my

son knives to play with?"

And today I am going to defend the

thesis that yes, we should give knives to

babies to play with. Yes, so that

they know what the world is like from a young age, so that they

protect themselves. Yes, friends, we're going to be

talking about the benefits of

risky games for children.

But to delve into this topic and

recall many of these

beautiful childhood anecdotes, please tell me

, what childhood scars do you have

? I can tell you, look, I

have one here. Ah, look, it's definitely

noticeable. Well, I don't know if the

color correction will make it noticeable, but

here I have one eye that's a little droopy, because

who knows what kind of blow I might have gotten here

, but we'll take it off later.

I have one there and I have another one here. I have

several, I have several. I have one here in my

head. Nobody knows. That's why she

wasn't such a young girl anymore. Look.

How many do you have from your childhood? That's what

we're going to talk about today:

wild childhood, eating dirt,

letting ourselves be bathed. For the people of

Obregón, for the people who are from Obregón

like me, you, I don't know if you

remember, I was just talking about this

with my parents, uh, with my dad in

particular, I don't know if you remember,

before they put the

hydraulic pavement on Guerrero, in Obregón, well,

the water ran, I mean, it rained in

Obregón once a year, literally, and it

ran like this, but the river of

chocolate water and my parents let me

bathe there and for me it was wonderful, I

mean, that they let me be like that

in the water with poop. [laughs] I

promise you, the dream on earth was

fabulous, that it rained in Oregon and that

Guerrero flooded, and being there

watching the river of water pass by was the best day

of my life. That's where

my microbiota comes from, my friends. Yes, look,

diversity there, imagine the amount

of water I must have swallowed there.

I share a microbiota with every bregón, that much I

can easily assure you. My

gut microbiota, from that moment on, said,

"Girl, and you know what? I almost never get

sick, very rarely. I mean, if anything, I

really do have enviable health to this day. I mean, I'm not

saying this to brag, but I do have

enviable health to this day.

I say that any minute now I'm going to have a

heart attack and die. Yeah, I mean, it's

really going to be like getting struck by

lightning. But before that, look, all

my years of life have been granted to me in

extremely good health thanks to bathing in

sewage water there in Guerrero. If you know what I mean, open a

Sonoran Union.

What we're going to talk about today

comes from an article published in

Nature titled "Why Kids

Need to Take More Risks: Science

Reveals the Benefits of Wild

and Free Play." If you want to

read it along with me, you can find it

with the English title, "Why Kids Need to

Take More Risks: Science Reveals the

Benefits of Wild and Free Play." If you

understood my English, well, there you'll

find the... This article, from the journal

Nature, is quite interesting because it

brings together several

researchers who have dedicated a

significant portion of their lives to investigating

the effects of

controlled risk on the development of

children and adolescents. And as always,

we have to start with the definition.

What exactly is risky play? Well, according to

Norwegian researcher Helen Sandetter, risky play is

exciting and stimulating play that involves

uncertainty and a risk, whether real or

perceived, of physical injury or

getting lost. And she tells us, there's

a very important distinction. It's crucial to

emphasize that risk is not the same as

danger. Danger is something a child

isn't prepared to perceive or deal with.

For example, it's dangerous for a child to

try to stick their fingers in an

electrical outlet, and the child does

n't necessarily know that it's

dangerous, that they shouldn't do it.

An adult has to point out

that it's dangerous. In other words, children are

n't always equipped to notice and

deal with all dangers. But, for

example, for a child of a For a one-year-old who

hasn't yet walked, taking that first

step is risky. The child doesn't

know if they'll fall forward,

backward, or sideways—

what will happen. The child is

taking a risk when trying

to stand up and take that first step.

Clearly, this is a risk

appropriate for their age and, moreover,

necessary for their development

as a human being. To become

a complete little person, they need to

take that first risk: "I'm going to stand up

even if I fall forward." And it's

also true that while getting up

and taking that first step is a risk

the child must take, they

can also fall and

hurt themselves. In other words, it's risky, but

necessary. This is also

important for

developing into the person we are going to

become; we need to take these

risks. It's also important to

understand that risk changes with

age. What is risky for a

one-year-old, like taking their first step, wo

n't be risky for a child of a different age. Three

years old, and now she's walking more freely. And I was

telling you that this definition was

first proposed by Helen Saneter back in

the 90s, and it comes from a rather

interesting story. It turns out that in 1996

in Norway, her home country

, regulations and

standards began to be implemented to try to make

children's playgrounds

safer. These regulations, for example,

required those in

charge of these playgrounds to have safety barriers,

rounded corners, and to

add equipment that could minimize

the risk of injury. This could mean

putting a padded surface

instead of, you know, that

metal pole that makes you bang your head all over, making it

much

safer for children. So,

our dear Helen started to notice

this, she started to see how the parks were

transforming into these

much safer spaces. And it caught her

attention because

Helen was dedicated to research. How did

taking certain controlled risks affect teenagers?

In her research, she had noticed that

when teenagers had access to

more controlled and

positive risks, such as participating in

extreme sports, mountain climbing, or

public singing, they

were less likely to

seek out negative or dangerous risks,

such as vandalism or

shoplifting. For

teenagers who had the opportunity to

engage in these activities, which

already involved some risk, it

generated

intense sensations, something

many teenagers seek—

they want to feel that excitement, that

adrenaline rush. So, the fact that they were already

participating in a sport or an

extreme activity that gave them access to that

adrenaline made them less likely to

seek that adrenaline

in other, more

negative acts, like shoplifting.

Then she began to wonder if

having access to these activities with a

certain degree of risk is positive for teenagers, what might be

happening to children? And she said,

"Cobbler to your "Shoes." The researcher

began investigating and

studying risk-taking and

thrill-seeking in children between the

ages of 3 and 5. At that time, there wasn't yet

an

established definition for the phenomenon

she was trying to observe,

which is playing with certain risks

involved. So she said, "Well, if there isn't one,

I'll invent one." And she coined this

definition of risky play, which

we reviewed a moment ago, and which,

with some variations, is

still used by many

researchers today. Since the 1990s, when

Helen began her research,

we now have a great deal of

evidence about the effects of

risky play on children. What has been

found is that

opportunities for risky play

are crucial for healthy physical,

mental, and emotional development. Children

need these opportunities for

risky play, which is basically what the

young woman showed us in the TikTok video

at the beginning. What she was saying: "Yes,

let's put this step here with

a chain so that if they don't put their

foot down correctly, they'll fall." That's what she was saying. We're going

to put these shelves here,

nice and high, so the children will try

to climb them and fall. All of these things

are necessary for children's development

. Children need these

opportunities to develop their

spatial awareness, coordination,

tolerance for uncertainty, and

self-confidence. Many studies

have found that children are

better aware of their own capabilities than

adults realize. Furthermore, in

various studies, some by

Sunsetter, risky play has been

associated with greater resilience,

problem-solving skills, and

social skills such as

cooperation, negotiation, and

empathy. For example, a study was conducted

in Belgium where

four- and six-year-old children were

told, "Children, we're going to let you

play wildly, freely, this

risky play for two hours a week.

This wild, daring, risky play is what we're

allowing children to do

for three months." And at the same time there

was a control group, so, well, kid,

don't move because what if you

scrape your knee? So those children were

left to their

usual games, right? As carefully as possible.

And it was found that after 3 months the

risk assessment skills of the

group of children who had had access to

these wilder games improved

compared to the children in the

control group. Children learn to navigate

their environment better, and at that stage

of growth,

the "hit by sight" approach also works quite well; that is,

they test the waters,

they have that opportunity to get to know

themselves, and when they take risks and

succeed, they generate much more self-confidence;

that is, they not only become better

at socializing, but their

relationship with themselves also improves. To begin with,

imagine that all the

physical benefits are there. Today we're not

messing with the children's physical abilities

, no, no. It is very important

that a child can hang, that a child

can coordinate, that a child has good

balance. It's something he has to

develop and he has to strengthen his

body. I mean, it's true that the

first time you climb onto the handrail, you'll

probably fall, and that's how you'll

learn several things. You're going to learn

that yes, you can fall, and you're going to

land on both feet. And if you don't land on

both feet, you'll land on your

buttocks and that's okay. We're going to

go back to that "nothing's wrong" topic right now.

You also learn and

strengthen your body when you keep

trying to climb up by passing your hands.

We're not getting into the

physical aspect today, but it's still very

important to point it out. In other words,

sedentary children, and we are increasingly seeing not just

more sedentary children, but a

more sedentary society. Children are

sedentary because we parents have

become sedentary, because we have all

become sedentary, because it's too much of a

hassle to take them to the park. There's no

internet there, and here we're perfectly happy

watching TikTok. But even

overprotective parents might say, "What if I

put my kid in a

crystal ball and have him exercise there? That he

never leaves the bubble."

Well, the child will be physically

very healthy, but this

risky game has many more benefits.

And that's where, for example, the next

benefit comes in, which is one of the benefits

that blew my mind the most and I

said, "Of course. I mean, that's not only

good for children, it's good for

us too, for our brains."

Well, it turns out there's a researcher

named DOT who found that

risky outdoor play had

quite a few benefits for

children, I mean, not just being cooped

up, but letting them loose and, you

know, going to the mountains, kid, you don't have a

house, get out there. which found that

risky outdoor play was

linked to lower levels of

stress and anxiety in children. And Do

said, then, why is that? Why is it that

children who are playing

outdoors seem less anxious and

less stressed? And he put forward a

hypothesis. Dot's hypothesis tells us

that risky play reduces the risk

of anxiety in children by teaching them

about the physiological arousal,

adrenaline, and tachycardia that

accompany anxiety and

excitement. This hypothesis suggests that

when children have the opportunity

to experience the cycle, which is a

challenge, the anxiety of facing it and

successfully coping with it allows them to learn to

control anxiety and understand that

physiological stress is not the end of the

world and does not last forever. According

to DOT, children who can

repeatedly experience this cycle of challenge,

anxiety, and coping learn to

manage anxiety and understand that

physiological stress is not the end of the

world and does not last forever. And this seemed

to me to be really fascinating and

super important clearly for the

development of children, but also

for oneself. In other words, the importance

of experiencing these situations of

moderate risk, of controlled risk,

where we experience these levels of

anxiety, where we take risks, and

understanding that we can experience all

these physiological sensations such as

tachycardia, feeling like

our heart is going to burst, our

hands start to sweat, that we

have all these sensations

because it is true that we are taking

a risk, but that at the end of the day it

is not the end of the world and that it is also a

temporary sensation. I mean, imagine

a brand new little human, fresh

out of the agency, I mean, I just took it out

of the Amazon box where it

came from. Imagine that all his life

this little person has been inside

a bubble, that every time he turns around,

Dad is watching him, Mom is

checking him from the other side, that if he climbs

somewhere there is always someone there to

catch him, and if there is no one there to

catch him, then it is clear that he is lying

quietly on a mattress. It is a

person who has never experienced

risk, who has never said, "Oh, how

scary if I fall." He has never felt

the adrenaline rush that comes with taking those

risky actions, because at the

end of the day, for a child to climb one

of these towers, well, the child is about

a third of the height of the tower and

sometimes less. If you've never felt that

emotion, if you've never felt the

tachycardia, if your hands have never sweated

, the day you experience it for the

first time, you feel like

the world is going to end, that is, you're going to have a

heart attack. Because? Because you

've never developed the resilience to

understand that what you have to do in

these situations is often to

face it, to take the next step

to get down from the tower, to throw yourself down

the slide and that down below the

slide, well, nothing happens if you

fall, you fall, you fell and nothing happened.

That's the same thing they do to

children, isn't it? It's like, "Ah, heal, heal little

frog's tail, if it doesn't heal today it will happen

tomorrow." It's healthy for children

to understand that if they bump themselves, it's

not the end of the world. And that is the

conclusion of practically all the

studies that have been done on this

subject, that children who live, who

coexist with these types of risks,

learn to cope with them better. For

example, during 2020,

when we were in the midst of the

COVID pandemic, research was conducted to

analyze what was

happening to children, how they were

coping, and what was found

was that children who spent more

time playing adventure and risk games

showed fewer symptoms of anxiety and

depression than those who spent

less time playing these types of games. The

study mentions that children with more

opportunities to take risks

were happier. And

interestingly for us

Latin Americans, it was found that this

protective pattern, that is, this pattern

that risky play protects you from

mental health problems such as

depression or anxiety, was even more

significant in children from

low-income households than in those from

higher-income households. In other words,

children from lower-income families who had

access to these moments of developing themselves in a

more adventurous and risky way

were even more protected against

such important mental health problems

as depression and

anxiety.

And now comes a very

important question. Let's suppose I've already

convinced you, that you said,

"You know what? This girl,

Helen Sunster, is right. It'll definitely

benefit my son to play with

knives. He needs more risk." Well, it

turns out there's a very

important point. You can't just walk up to him with your little

snot and say, "You know what?" Yesterday I watched

a podcast by a girl and she convinced me

that what you have to do is take

more risks and go out on the street with a

knife and see who survives the night.

No, what the researchers are saying is

that it's not up to parents to

encourage their children to take more risks.

That is by no means the conclusion of

this episode. We shouldn't

tell children, "Take more risks,

jump into the street, cross the street without

looking." No, let's remember that we're

talking about play, freedom for

children. And the game should always be

guided by the child and their wishes. The

role of adults is to provide them with a

conducive environment and let them be, if anything

, cheerleaders for the

children, to step aside, let them

live together, let them make those

decisions, let them

legitimately take risks. The authors' message

is really, children need autonomy

, they need the freedom to

move around in their environment, to exist

freely, to make their own decisions, and to

take their own risks. Helen Dot tells us

that what we seek to promote is

risky play, free play, and that it ceases to

be play the moment an

adult tells the child what to

do. Very important, friends, let it

be. Let it be. You might cheer him on from

afar, saying things like, "Well done, you did it

," but beyond that, giving them

freedom, giving the kids freedom

is what they're looking for. And there's a

phrase here that I quite liked, which

apparently is the motto of the defenders of

risky gambling, and what it tells us is that

children should be as safe as

necessary,

not as safe as possible.

Important, that is, safety to the

extent necessary, but not to the extent

possible, because yes, it is true,

maybe you have the possibility of putting the

child in a bubble and that is the

safest possible place for the child,

but is it necessary to have him in a

bubble, that is, is that really what

will bring the most benefits to his

development? Well, possibly not. It is

probably best to be safe

as far as necessary. I mean, you're

clearly not going to take him to the park

and abandon him and say,

"See you later, then, see you there at 8

pm." As was possibly the case for

many of us who are now in a

different age range and were at that

age where you would leave your house. You would leave

your house and come back at

night, and where were you? Well, who knows,

but you came back at the time they

told you to. What happened from the time you

left your house until 8 or 9 at

night when you returned? Well, it was no longer

your parents' business, because your parents

let you be and do whatever you wanted, so what

happened to

you out there was a complete mystery. Clearly, one also

needs to have good judgment. You know

that this podcast is for people

with at least two brain cells.

Look, I'm making at least

double what they're making. I think I can fit up to

a fifth one in there. In other words, it's important that

they have good judgment. Clearly they're not going to

drop the kid off at the park and

say, "Okay, see you there at 8

pm. Take care." We need to have

criteria for how we establish these

spaces. relatively safe places where

they can take risks within

their capabilities. In other words, what we

want is for the child to actually

hold onto the handrail, not for him to be

taken away, not for the child

abductor to take him. And the researchers

point out, they say, "Use your judgment and

also use your knowledge as a

parent." It

makes me laugh that there are

scientific investigations that are like things

we say, well, it's obvious, right? Is

n't that obvious? But it's important

to investigate, it's important to

have numbers and data to say, "No,

well, it is true." And these gentlemen

began to investigate the

facial expressions of the children when they were

having these, well, risky games

in a positive way, that is, when they

were generating

positive risks, you could say. And they

point out that

the child's facial expression while performing

the activity is a very good indicator. In other

words, it can tell us whether

or not we should interfere with the activity

the child is doing. They say

that when children are highly

focused, they are observing, they have a

determined look, they are clearly

determined to perform the activity, to

climb the handrail, to jump off the

tube from where they have to jump.

When children are focused and

determined, it is important,

they say, to take a moment and let

the child work through the situation they are in

. On the other hand,

if you notice that the child freezes

, if their face

starts to look distraught, and if instead of

focusing on the activity they are

trying to do, they start turning around

desperately, as you

know, kicking and screaming, well,

then yes, that might be a good time to

intervene, to go in and help them

solve the problem. You're not necessarily

going to lower it. You might say,

"Don't worry, you can do it. Look, put

one foot here, put one foot there."

As parents, you'll see what's best

to do for your kid, but what they're

telling us is, "Read your child,

learn to read their

facial expressions. What

you consider risky for a

child isn't always going to be risky for them.

Don't underestimate your child's abilities

. Let them decide and see their

limits, and in some cases,

even suffer the consequences. I mean,

kids really do have to

fall. Kids really do

have to fall. We all

have to fall, friends. There's even a trick to

falling. And you have to learn it

in childhood when you're still so soft and pliable

. Aren't

kids like rubber? I really see kids and I

say, 'Dude, what just happened

to you would leave me with a receipt

from the school that pays for your whole elementary school.'" I

assure you.

And notice that there is something very curious,

because like everything in this life there is

a whole social and cultural context around

how many risks we let the

kids take. It exists, it's a whole

issue. It turns out that

Scandinavian countries are highly permissive

regarding risk. In other words, that's when they

sharpen the knives on the baby and tell him,

"Get out there, go solve the world's problems out there

." The Scandinavians. Why do

you think that is? A highly recurring theme on

this channel. Why do you think

Scandinavian parents are much more

permissive of their children taking risks

and having a slightly freer life in

terms of risky gambling?

For universal access to healthcare.

These countries that have somewhere to take

their kids if they break their arm,

allow their kids to have this

type of game where, well, they might

break their arm, but nothing happens

because we have access to a good

health system where nothing happens, I mean,

in half an hour you'll already have

your helmet for your arm and we carry on.

We arrived at the house at night for dinner. It does

not become a major and

catastrophic event in the lives of parents and

children. And interestingly enough, as mentioned

here, the strictest Norwegian parents

are on the same level as the

most permissive Canadian parents. Imagine

that. In other words, the Norwegian dad who

sets the most rules and keeps you

locked up at home is on the same level

as the Canadian dad who lets you

go out, do things, and make your

own decisions. Where do you think?

This really intrigues me. Where do

you think Mexico is on this

scale? What do you think? What is your

perception? Do you think we should be more

permissive? In other words, will Mexico be more

permissive than Canadians, or perhaps

we are less permissive? I mean, there's a whole

social context around these

things that's really interesting, folks.

The social determinants of health

can never be ignored.

Having access to universal healthcare

makes you a more worry-free dad,

which allows you to give

your children more freedom. This lets them

go out and play more

freely, reducing their

anxiety and depression levels,

improving their coordination, socializing, and

self-determination—all the things we

discussed. And where does it come from? Well, that

the kid has access to

universal healthcare, that you have that insurance behind you

that allows you to take all those

freedoms. The social determinants

of health, friends, are always very

important. And the more we delve into

the social context, the more interesting the topic becomes

. For

example, the United States is like the

number one place in child safety. In other words, they actually

put a mattress on the mattress where

the little kid is going to throw himself. Because?

Because it is a highly

litigious society. The gringo loves two

things. Shoot. It isn't true. The gringo

loves to sue. He's fascinated by

lawsuits, everything. Like, if he

slips at Walmart, he says, "I've got it made

. Here's my retirement. I slipped

at Walmart. Yes. Yes, indeed." So,

being in a highly

litigious environment, the people in charge

of these children's play areas, you

know, like the

McDonald's play areas or roller coasters,

any ride where a kid can climb

, have to ensure every

last detail so that the child, look, does

n't even scrape their knee. I mean,

the pole isn't too hard for

the child to hold onto and hurt their little hand

. No, no, no, no.

All that can't be allowed here. And what's happening

is creating a bubble where

children don't have access to these

controlled and moderate-risk games

, as we've already discussed, which

have many

health benefits. I mean, these are things that have

nothing to do with each other. That society is

highly litigious and that you have children

who aren't developing their

coordination and evaluation skills. Risks.

It seems like these are taboo subjects.

However, they are being affected.

Again, friends,

social determinants of health. Human beings

don't exist in a vacuum. We live governed

by laws, by rules, by policies. And

these laws, rules, and policies have an

impact on our health. The fact

that the United States lives in a

highly litigious society limits

its children's ability to engage in this

risky play, which, as we've seen, is

incredibly

important for their development.

And another way in which culture

permeates children's development,

which really caught my attention, is

with German playgrounds.

Look it up, look it up online,

search for "German Playground," really look it up

, because those people are the

complete opposite. If Americans

are like Ronald McDonald, not wanting

your child to scrape their knee,

Germans are like, "Kid, we need you to

learn how to survive in a trench."

Seriously, German playgrounds

are... These people are well-known, they're famous for being

children who go to war, I mean,

really, the kids are like, well, who

knows if your child will come back, but they're having a great time.

And this approach

the Germans take to spaces where

children are allowed to play, which

for many people, or I think in

Mexico even, would be considered

risky, I mean, we're not

used to having so much metal in

playgrounds. And you know, I really

think Mexican parents would freak out

. I think they'd say, "No,

my son, no, don't go playing over

there." It turns out that

the Germans' relationship with these

playgrounds comes from the destruction caused

after World War II.

Mm, imagine that. It really

blew my mind to find this out. Well, it

turns out that after World War II

, Germany was in ruins.

They had bombed practically all

the cities. Uh, there were many problems

to solve, there was famine, there was

political uncertainty, there were so many

problems, and well, there wasn't time. to

see where the kids would be playing

. So, the children started

playing among the rubble because that's

all they had around them. There

was only rubble; where else were they going

to play? The children played by climbing

ruins, building forts with the

remains of

bombed buildings, and even improvising their

own trenches. And this wasn't something

new. Back in 1943, the architect Carl

Theodor Sorensen proposed the idea of ​​a

junkyard playground. Scramelgan

Platz, or

Scarameyedg Platz

in Danish,

was a space where children could

build, destroy, and

experiment freely, but

safely. Yes, they had wood,

nails, and other things to be

careful of, but at the end of the

day, they were in a safe place; no child

abductor was going to take them. The first

playground of this kind opened

in Copenhagen in 1943.

And this concept... It spread across

war-torn Europe, especially

in Germany and the UK, where it was

seen as a healthy way to

channel children's energy and trauma

.

What do you think? World War II

gifting us junkyards.

Of course it is.

And before we wrap up, I'd like to revisit

two points we discussed

today. First, something the

young woman mentions in her video when she's

on the seesaw. She says, "You have to

put in a seesaw with

really stiff springs so

weak children fall forward." Notice

that this comment points to

a topic that I think is very

important, extremely relevant, which I haven't

brought up because I do

n't think we have enough information yet. There aren't any

extensive studies that tell us what's

happening, how big the

problem is. More research is needed

so I can put together a

more comprehensive episode to

discuss this topic and understand whether it's

something we should really be

concerned about, because there are many

Things are happening in the world, and sometimes we need to

know if, I mean, if we should be

worried or not, if something is happening

or nothing is happening. You know,

I try to follow a lot of teachers, I

try to stay informed about what they're saying,

what's

happening in the classrooms, what they

're seeing, because they're the ones

experiencing the

things we'll only find out about

in the future. They're

seeing certain trends, like if

children, for example, are having

more trouble concentrating or

reading these days—they're seeing it now.

We'll only find out in

two or three years when I tell you, "Oh, in

2025, an experiment was run with 1,000

children, and they found AC." These kinds of

experiments take time.

So, for me, listening to

teachers talk about what's

happening in the classroom is like a

thermometer. It's a thermometer.

Many of these things are anecdotal,

again. No, no, we can't take it

so seriously as a Studying with an n

with certain controls, well, no. But if

they function as a, well, at least for

me they serve as a thermostat, I mean, they

tell you what's happening there.

And I'm telling you, they tell you today, they're

talking about what they're experiencing

in the present. I follow a lot of people,

people. I follow a lot of people. Then they

write to me and say like, "Hey, did you see

that you're following this anti-baxer?" And

it's like, "Yeah, I follow a lot of crazy people."

I like to hear what's happening in

different places, in different

minds, internet bubbles.

So, I try to keep an eye on

different bubbles." And a comment

that comes up frequently with

teachers is that they're seeing

children arriving

weaker and weaker, as if they do

n't have enough

abdominal strength, or core strength, to maintain

good posture. It's like these

children are coming in a little

more, well, I don't know, softer, more

delicate, more hunched over, and their

hands tire quickly. They don't have

the strength in their hands to do

all the exercises they're

asked to do. Again, if you're

a teacher with 10 or 15 years of experience

, I imagine the

demands are the same, right? Before,

children would write for two hours straight,

and now you're seeing children whose hands are already getting

tired after 40 minutes

. So, this is something I

've analyzed a couple of times. So, I looked into

what's out

there, what's been published on the subject, and there

are very few publications that

have analyzed whether children are actually

getting weaker. Again,

this aspect of strength in children is

incredibly important. We

discussed it in the Coco

Melón episode.

Physical development in children goes hand in

hand with their neurological development

and their development as individuals. It's very

important that you, as a child,

have enough abdominal strength

to stand upright. It frees up your

arms, allows you to breathe

properly, and enables you to make other,

more refined movements. So,

strength is very important for

children. And it really caught my

attention that this

young woman mentions that if a child isn't

strong enough, they're going to

fall. Again, it's up to the child to

analyze that risk, and developing strength

is very important for children. They're

in a critical stage of their development,

so it's very important that they

develop it. And here, again, it really

catches my attention that this

young woman mentions those children who

perhaps don't have enough strength.

And what I would say to her is that children They

need to play those games to

strengthen their bodies, because

what children need isn't to do sit-

ups, it's to get on that seesaw,

climb up, tighten their abdominal muscles, and hold on tight

, because that's how

they develop strength. They need to

hang because that's how they develop

grip strength. They need to climb on

things, they need to use their bodies.

And if we don't let them use their bodies,

because we're too scared of the

place where they play, because we're too

scared that the kid

might fall, we're going to have children who aren't

developing the strength they

need, who aren't developing the

coordination they need, and

all the psychological impacts come with that.

Children who lack self-confidence, children

who don't learn to deal with

anxiety, with stress, with being

excited and feeling these

strong emotions that come with those

risky games, which they know, yes,

that pole is really hard, yes, I

could hurt myself, but I'm going

to try it anyway, not because an

adult is telling me to, because I'm

a child free to take the risk.

The second point, now to

wrap things up, has to do with adapting

this information for us. Yes,

friends, ego always plays a role when it benefits

us. The kids, what about them? The

children, man, come on, kid,

get out of here, you don't pay taxes. How do

we make everything about us?

I'd like to leave you with a thought

before I go, and that is that we sit down and

analyze how often we

expose ourselves to this kind of

risky game. How often? And let's

broaden the definition a bit because we're not

necessarily just playing around

since we're grown up, we're adults

in this house. How often do we

face manageable risk situations

? How often do we

face situations that

give us a racing heart, that teach us that going through

this

stressful moment isn't necessarily

negative, that it's something we have to

face and that we can resolve? How often do we

expose ourselves to

new things? Do we venture out? Do we take

risks? And this ranges from activities

as simple as public speaking,

being beginners in a In a

new activity, being in an

environment that challenges our bodies,

that demands something from them, but that

also takes us to a certain point of

excitement, certain strong emotions.

How often do you expose yourself to

strong emotions that aren't necessarily

negative? I mean, you know, not like you're

stressed or anxious because

HR called you or

because your boss, who's a jerk,

is yelling at you. I mean, how often do

you really feel your heart

pounding because of an activity that you're

freely choosing to do and that

generates that kind of adrenaline, those

strong emotions, that

excitement and that tachycardia that does come with

stress and anxiety,

but is part of what you have to

face, part of that cycle of

coping and being on the other side and

saying, you know what? Nothing happened, I didn't

die. It was a situation that gave me

anxiety, but I managed to resolve it. And

these activities, well, it's a

range of activities, Right? It could be

public speaking, it could be being a

beginner at something new, having

people see you fail, seeing you

make a fool of yourself, feeling embarrassed in

some way. You know, those people who, I do

n't know, go and dress up as clowns,

do a million things. There are a thousand activities

that, as adults, can

also give us this feeling of, oh, wow,

how risky. I mean, public speaking, well

, it's not that it's a risk per se

, but don't your hands sweat? Doesn't it

make you nervous?

Exposing yourself to these kinds of situations and

resolving them is something positive for

you. Just as it's positive for children, just

as it generates a

greater sense of autonomy and

self-confidence for them, it

will generate it for you too. What's

positive for children in their

development often, most

of the time, continues to be positive for

us at all stages of our

lives. We also have to take risks,

friends. We shouldn't lock

ourselves away in a bubble of It's a glass ceiling where

all we want is comfort, right?

Being uncomfortable, feeling anxious. But that

, you know, is also very good

for us. It gives us greater security, it

makes us feel small victories,

victories that are very important to have.

And sometimes a victory can be

climbing, going to a wall to climb and

encountering your worst enemy, the B5, and

saying, "I'm going to climb, I'm going to climb that

wall, and the first time I won't be able to, and

the second time maybe not either,

but while you're doing it, you

're challenging yourself psychologically and

physically." If you're going to yoga, then I'm going to do a

headstand. If you like

cycling, then I'll either jump off a

mountain or go faster. There are certain

risks we can take in

controlled environments, risks that are

completely controlled. We're

adults, friends. Let's also have some common sense

. Don't tell me you're going to

go and throw yourselves into a shark tank tomorrow

. Neither. Remember that

common sense is also very

important. Let's expose ourselves to these kinds of

activities because we, as well as

children, also benefit from

risky play.

I hope you enjoyed

today's episode. I had a great time. I

love talking about all these

development topics, how culture

impacts us, how policies are

related to how we raise our

children. It turns out that if you have access to

healthcare, you are a much more relaxed and

calm parent. Who would have thought it? It takes a little common sense

to say that

access to healthcare makes you much more at

ease. And really, take a moment to

reflect on when was the last

time you had tachycardia like that,

because you were going to do something new, because you were going to take a

chance. I mean, it's not like I'm

going to bet my house either.

Please change. Your family suffers, quit

gambling apps because it's

something that happens with age, you get

more jaded and start

taking fewer risks. Because I used to do a

lot of mountain biking, before the

pandemic I used to do mountain biking. I

love it. I loved the

mountain visit, uh, mainly cross

country, I mean, no downhill, but oh, I do

n't know, how cool. And after the

pandemic I started learning to

rock climb in the mountains and I loved it, I really

loved it. And they don't know, there the stress

stops you falling because falling

anyway was tied up. Again, these are

controlled risks, but they don't know the

stress I lived with, constantly thinking about putting my hand

in a crack and having a

spider pop out. I mean, that's when I really said, "I'm going to

kill myself." I mean, I'm going to kill myself. I'm going to dive off

this mountain

because there's no other way. Yes, I loved

doing that and you know what? I really felt that, I

mean, the whole thing is that you feel the

adrenaline, you feel the challenge of what you're going to

do, you get anxious, you get

butterflies in your stomach, your

stomach churns as you're about to go up, and when you're going up

and suddenly you get to the

top and you say, "Ah, I'm on the other

side." And it gives you a sense of well-being, and you feel

so good, and it feels so nice to have

achieved all that after going through a

rough patch, because yes, there is a kind of

happiness that is achieved when you go through a

rough patch, when you really had to make an

effort, when you really didn't know

if you were going to achieve it or not

. And that's what benefits both

children and adults. Remember

that the person sitting here doesn't have

children and isn't going to judge you for how

you're raising your children. I know that

between you and your kid.

Raise him as best you can, as

life allows. It's easy to talk

when you don't have kids. You

raise them as best you can.

At the end of the day, what we want is to

do the best job possible for these

children. I hope you don't feel judged

when I talk about these topics, which

have to do with how we are with our

parents. My mission is always for them to leave

here with extra information and never

feeling judged. And remember, if you

subscribe to the channel, I'll

personally come to your homes to give you a

hug.

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